Tim Cook runner-up in Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2012

Tim Cook has finished in the second runners-up spot for this years’ Time Magazine Person of the Year award. Time Magazine has announced that this year’s outright winner would be US President Barack Obama. Time then revealed its four runners-up and in order they were Malala Yousafzai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti, respectively. Cook was handpicked by the late Steve Jobs to take over his position at Apple back in 2011. Time Magazine says:

And like an Apple product, Cook runs smooth and fast. When Jobs died on Oct. 5, 2011, of pancreatic cancer, there were questions about whether Cook could lead Apple. Some, myself included, wondered whether Apple was even a viable company without Jobs. Since then Cook has gone about his business apparently unintimidated by his role as successor to one of the greatest innovators in history. Cook’s record hasn’t been flawless, but he has presided in a masterly way over both a thorough, systematic upgrading of each of the company’s major product lines and a run-up in the company’s financial fortunes that can only be described as historic.

The award is given every year by Time Magazine to recognise the people who have done the most to influence the events of that particular year. As a result of finishing as a runner-up, Tim Cook will appear on one of the covers of the Time Magazine “Person of the Year issue. Writer Lev Grossman has already written a detailed profile charting Tim Cook’s first full year as Apple’s CEO. The profile is well worth reading and includes some interesting insight into Cook’s daily working routines.

Cook does have a few things in common with Jobs. He’s a workaholic, and not of the recovering kind. He wakes up at 3:45 every morning (“Yes, every morning”), does e-mail for an hour, stealing a march on those lazy East Coasters three time zones ahead of him, then goes to the gym, then Starbucks (for more e-mail), then work. “The thing about it is, when you love what you do, you don’t really think of it as work. It’s what you do. And that’s the good fortune of where I find myself.”

Reader comments

Tim Cook runner-up in Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2012

How the f**k is this man runner up "person of the year"??? Come on earth, we're better than this, surely! There are millions of people who have done better things for this planet than this guy. He has done f**k all really in the scheme of things!

If I had to do some painting I wouldn't even use a Time magazine as a drop cloth. If I were any of the people NOT winning person of the year I would be thankful as it is obvious the people picking the winners have personal issues and memory losses to over come.

Is time magazine published by a non-US company. It seems those are the only people that like Obama.

Time's person of the year is about global influence; it doesn't matter whether that influence is good or bad. Hitler was named it. Stalin was named it twice. So was George W. Bush (twice). Apple has undeniably had a major influence on a great number of people recently. Not just their products and the way they have, almost single-handedly, fundamentally changed people lives; but also their economic influence on financial markets and global manufacturing and commerce policies.

I should point out I'm just guess why they picked Tim Cook as a finalist this year ... I haven't actually read the article.

Obama did win win 51% of the vote however he won with less votes and support than he did in 2008. Unlike in 2008, a vast majority of Independents/swing voters voted for Romney. The difference? Romney's base didn't show up to vote.

This was no Roosevelt/Reagan type win. Barry's win came from his base and probably a few thousand felons, dead people, etc.

Actually we are the majority. It's just that the majority didn't show up to vote, which is a shame, as now those that didn't show up can not blame anyone but themselves. Within the next four years, your "majority" will regret the day that they re-elected that clown. But this is not a political forum, so I will get off my horse now.

Wow. So, 49% of the country doesn't matter anymore? That will work so well in about 4 years when this disgrace to the office rides out of town, and we elect a real president. And, since I "no longer matter", let us see you and good 'ol Barry get along without my tax dollars. Oh but wait. When you want more money to spend, I bet we will matter a great deal then. Since about 48% of the 51% pays NO taxes......